Jan. 6 Anniversary Exposes Two Opposing Truths

OPINION – The rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building one year ago exposed a widening, terrifying, ugly rift between the far right and far left political factions in this country leaving our beloved Republic in peril.  

This nation has never been more divided with no clear middle ground upon which to build. The far left Socialist Democrats see the Jan. 6 rioters as insurrectionists hell bent on destroying the country.  The far right hard-line Conservative Republicans see the government headed by an illegitimately elected socialist as hell bent on destroying the country. 

The corporately owned national media created a simple narrative; Jan. 6 Republicans bad and therefore wrong, Jan. 6 Democrats good and therefore right.  Words matter and the national media has stuck with that narrative to this day.   

From CNN: "They (Trump & his supporters) have falsely claimed all of the rioters were unarmed. They have falsely claimed the people at the Capitol merely held a "protest" against an election they falsely claimed was fraudulent. They have falsely claimed the rioters were welcomed into the Capitol by police officers.

They have falsely claimed the riot was orchestrated by left-wing groups or the FBI. And they have falsely claimed nonviolent rioters are being jailed as "political prisoners."

From Newsmax: "Unbridled violence across the nation, a disputed election, distrust of the mainstream media, and a sense that hypocrisy was everywhere among elected officials — all helped set in motion the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

In the aftermath of this day — when laws were clearly broken and behavior was at best uncivil and at worst violent — the media and Democratic politicians have advanced a disputed narrative of “insurrection.”

“Jan. 6 started as a peaceful protest that became unruly and at times violent,” says Jack Thomas Smith. “But it was not an insurrection. The protesters didn’t seek to overthrow the government and did not bring firearms into the Capitol.”

Neither side can see a middle ground; a space where compromise is a decent word and a situation where decent individuals in leadership positions from both sides can sit down across the same table, break bread and focus on our commonalities; those uniquely American qualities that make us one whole nation.  

It is an historic fact that the country has been divided politically and philosophically since before the Declaration of Independence was signed.  The nation's greatest disgrace was the Civil War where states left the union and brothers fought against and killed each other over the politics of slavery and states rights.  

This nation would not survive another such 'Civil' war.  

The truth for the Socialist Democrats is that the rioters who stormed the Capitol that day, the groups they belong to and anyone associated with them are guilty of treason.  

The truth for the Conservative Republicans is that the rioters that day were patriots fighting the corrupt government which was stealing an election behind closed doors.  

Those truths and the individuals who hold to them are irreconcilable.  

The facts are an over-zealous group of Trump supporters were at a Trump Rally in Washington supporting their defeated candidate.  They were encouraged to walk to the Capitol and protest that defeat outside.  

The rioters who stormed past the security barricades injuring Capitol Police and broke into the Capitol building committed a crime.  Everyone who went into the Capitol building uninvited that day are guilty of trespassing at the very least.  

The Capitol police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt is at least guilty of manslaughter.  

The Democrats and the national media are guilty of pursuing a narrative that ALL Republicans are traitors by association, a charge which in and of itself is seditious.  

No matter who is guilty of what, the events of Jan. 6 2021 shook this Republic to it's core and the effects will be felt for decades.  

I will be sharply criticized by both sides for this article.  There is no common ground; no room for each extreme side to see the events of that terrible day through the lens of the other side.  Democracy has been gravely wounded and both sides continue to twist the knife to this day.  

There are two sad truths in this country today.  And until those sad truths can be reconciled, the Republic remains in peril of collapsing from within.  

Perhaps President Abraham Lincoln said it best: 

"In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed -

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other."

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